Image Description: Bluefin tuna on a black stone floor. Image by WikiImages from Pixabay

Starting in 2024, an English Catch and Release Recreational Fishery (CRRF) for Blue Fin Tuna (BFT) was opened. Now, fishers with commercial licences who want to apply for an authorisation to fish commercially for bluefin tuna in English waters in 2025 can start the process from 20 March 2025.

The 2024 Blue Fin Tuna Catch and Release Recreational Fishery ran from 3 August 2024 to 31 December 2024. Permitted vessels made over a thousand trips in total, and 83.0% successfully caught at least one Blue Fin Tuna. In total, 3,359 Blue Fin Tuna were caught throughout the 2024 season, with an average of 3.3 Blue Fin Tuna per trip. The average length of the Blue Fin Tuna caught was 167.7cm, and the average estimated weight was 95.5kg.

To support fishers through the application process and explain how the fishery will operate this year, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), in support of Defra, has published guidance, with the application period set to close on 21 April 2025. The UK has a quota allocation of 66 tonnes of bluefin tuna in 2025. From this, 45 tonnes will be used for the commercial fishery. MMO aim to issue licence authorisations for 15 commercial vessels with three tonnes of quota per vessel. The fishery will be open from 1 July to 31 December 2025.